- With the participation of seven organizations including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the mock voting was carried out at 172 diplomatic missions in the same way an actual election is executed.

- A full-scale system for overseas voting is managed including the establishment of overseas voting commissions from September.

The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea announced that it conducted the overseas mock voting nine months before the 20th presidential election with the participation of the organizations which manage the overseas election duties including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Supreme Court, Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, and Korea Post on June 21.

The overseas mock voting was carried out in the same procedures and methods which are used for an actual voting. The number of overseas Koreans totalled up to 2,426; also 172 diplomatic missions out of 181 participated, considering the condition of local security in the host country.

Upon the review of this mock voting results, the NEC plans to examine the matters that need to be improved by each procedure, so that the adjustments will be applied to overseas voting management in the future.

Overseas voting was introduced for the first time at the 19th National Assembly elections; 540,000 overseas Koreans participated through the last 5 elections. There has been a continuous effort to improve the systems for the purpose of securing convenience and increasing the turnout of overseas voting including the permanent voter’s list system, the internet registration system and the establishment of additional polling stations apart from the diplomatic missions.

The NEC will establish overseas voting commissions at each diplomatic mission from September; while it goes into a full-scale overseas voting management, it will start receiving the registration of the overseas absentees from October. As the NEC said that it will strengthen overseas voting advertisement and take stronger preventive measures against illegal activities, it urged the overseas Koreans to take interest and participate in the 20th presidential election.

-  Two Photos of the Overseas Mock Voting

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Nagoya

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Sydney